


Chinks in the Castle Wall

by CavannaRose



Category: Arthurian Mythology
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, College, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-20
Updated: 2019-11-20
Packaged: 2021-02-16 00:34:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,016
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21498937
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CavannaRose/pseuds/CavannaRose
Summary: With her start of term delayed due to a family emergency, Elaine Garlot finally made it onto campus despite some errors on her course list. Little does she know that she's about to run into some familiar faces... familiar faces of people she swears she has never met before.
Kudos: 1





	Chinks in the Castle Wall

"No. That isn't what I said at all. Amma! It's fine. No big deal." She paused, eyes rolling as she held the cellphone slightly away from her ear for a moment. "Yes, I have to pay for it anyway. Maybe it will be fun! No... Amma... look... Amma!" With a sigh she slumped down on the nearest bench, resting her forehead in one palm as she listened to the diatribe that continued. Finally her mother wound down a bit, and she was able to get a word in again. "I'm sure it was just a mix-up. I've got so many architectural courses maybe I selected the wrong code." She paused to listen again. "No, Amma." Another burst of fast chatter. "I'm headed to the Dean's office right now... Yes.... No... Okay. I'll see you in a couple weeks.... Love you too Amma."

Dropping her phone down onto the bench beside her, she ran her fingers through her hair and sighed. Having to start the term late was already hard enough, without Amma breathing down her neck about everything. She couldn't blame her mother, though. It had only been two months since... She pulled out the schedule again, refusing to finish that thought while she looked over the list with a critical eye. She had enough architectural credits to meet the program criteria. Maybe she should just go to archaeology class, see what it was about. It was an intro level course anyway, so it's not like it could be that hard. Yes, she was already signed up for Medieval Literature, but her best friend had taken it at Colombia last semester and said it was a total bird course. 

Picking her phone back up she fished her headphones out of her pocket and plugged everything in, adjusting the volume as the first discordant keyboard notes of Emilie Autumn's 'Shalott' flowed around her. The soft anger in the lyrics raced through Elaine, her lips silently moving along with the music as she forced thoughts of Annan's death from her mind. The guilt about not being there with him, the weight of the family's sorrow, she forced it all out of her, letting it be carried away by the frantic sawing of the electric violin. When she was calmer, her mind unable to concentrate on anything but the eerie lyrics of one of her favourite musicians, she finally closed the app, stuffing headphones and cell back into her pocket.

She had told Amma that she would go to the Dean's office, so the least she could do was make an appointment and talk things through with him... or her. She wasn't actually sure who the Dean was. Someone had told her... yesterday maybe? But it had already slipped her mind. She was pretty sure she remembered where the office was though. She'd just go in and schedule an appointment, no harm no foul. The Dean was supposed to be available to talk about your courses and direction anyways, right? Or was that just in bad college movies from the 90s? She laughed at herself, shaking her head. "I guess I'm about to find out."

Despite thinking she remembered where she was going, it took her an hour of getting lost on campus to locate the Dean's office. The older lady at the desk seemed pretty irritable about being bothered, explaining the online appointment booking process in clipped, disinterested sentences. Exceptions weren't going to be made just because she was new on campus. Shrugging and smiling as pleasantly as she could, Elaine finally headed back towards the big Mess Hall to grab a quick bite to eat. She wasn't starting classes until tomorrow, but all this listening to grouchy old women had left her starving.

The Mess Hall didn't look that much different than her old high school cafeteria, just much bigger. It smelled better too. Starting at the coolers she grabbed herself one of those pre-made iced coffee drinks, and a pasta salad. She didn't want anything hot, but pasta was always comfort food, no matter the temperature it was prepared at. Every friend's house she'd ever eaten at had basically been bursting with pasta, as far as she could tell. It reminded her of good times, without the pain that thoughts of home were currently tainted with. 

It took her a few minutes to find an empty seat, but eventually found some space at the end of one long table. The students sitting at the other end didn't seem to notice or care that she was there, locked in a heated debate about something. One was dramatically waving a textbook over his head as he made his point, but she kept her eyes down, focused on her bowl. It was nice, the sounds all around her. Maybe she was by herself right now, but she wasn't so freaking alone. That had been the worst part about being at home, the silence. The emptiness of the house. Give her noise and chaos over that echoing madness any day. 

Pulling out her notebook and her class schedule, she began jotting down the names of the recommended textbooks. She didn't have any classes until afternoon tomorrow, so depending on whether or not she was actually going to get a meeting with the Dean she could come to campus early and hit the bookstore, pick up the stuff she knew she'd need for certain. The architectural classes required a lot of equipment, and as she mentally calculated the costs she winced.

No one had told her that pursuing her dreams would cost so damn much, but what else could she do? Growing up, when she'd play princesses or whatever with her friends, she'd spend more time planning what the castle would look like then fake-dancing with pretend princes. She'd build cardboard barbicans and stacked wooden machicolations so that they could patrol the walls. How many ten-year-olds even knew what a machicolation was? Certainly none of her friends did, but they didn't tease her either. After all, they had the best cardboard forts to play in when she was done building them.


End file.
